Trying to Distance
by winternightlullaby
Summary: Megaman gets himself seriously injured from saving Roll in a netbattle gone wrong. Blaming herself, Roll distances herself away from him to prevent him from getting hurt because of her carelessness. She finds herself being consoled by an unlikely navi who shows her what she doesn't see in herself. Rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Hey there! I have never written stories for this fandom, but after seeing Megaman's final smash for SSB, I instantly remembered Megaman NT Warrior and fell in love again with that series. This is my first oneshot of this fandom and I probably won't be doing another again anytime soon, it's just something that came to mind that I haven't thought back on in ages. There is some OOC in this, be warned! Please read and review!**

* * *

It was an accident. _'An accident that was my fault,'_ thought Roll sadly. Megaman lied in stasis as data flowed around the place where his right arm was supposed to be.

Coloredman was going absolutely insane in one of DenTech city's servers by setting off mini bombs in restaurants around the place. All while bouncing around on his ball and getting away from security navis that chased him around for hours on end. Megaman had jacked in to stop him, but Roll went with him to try and fight.

An AquaTower sent her flying and crashing into the hard ground after she carelessly charged at the clown navi. Megaman had called her back, but she didn't listen. When Megaman rushed over and scooped her up from the ground, that's when Coloredman went for the kill and shot his ball at them. Megaman threw her out of the way and took the hit. His arm was instantly crushed under the ball. She fell on her side when he threw her, pain shooting into her torso, but it was nothing compared to the pain Megaman was feeling. His scream flooded her sensors.

And here he was recovering because she got in the way. If she hadn't charged forward like she had, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. Luckily Coloredman had been successfully defeated by Protoman. If he hadn't come, then they would've been done for. Gutsman, Iceman and Glide watched as Roll tearfully recanted her story to them.

"It's my fault that he got hurt. I'm so sorry, Lan!" she shouted. Lan, who looked a little concerned because of her tears, only smiled when he realized that Megaman would be okay.

"It's okay, Roll! He'll be fine." On cue, Meddy walked over to Roll and put a consoling hand on her shoulder. Their rivalry over Megaman had diminished long ago when Meddy saw how much the two cared for each other. The female Navis became close soon after and were practically net sisters.

"He should make a full recovery by tomorrow. Then you guys can go on that date you planned for tomorrow night," she teased, hoping Roll would cheer up. Roll sniffed.

"I don't want to go." Maylu, seeing her navi's misery, jumped in to soothe her.

"You need your rest. I'll jack you out and take you home." Lan's signature grin was back.

"Yeah! Then you can come back tomorrow to see him!" Roll twitched.

"I put him here. What makes you think he wants to see me?" she asked bitterly. Lan wilted, sheepishly eyeing Maylu.

"Yeah, but Megaman would want to see her when he wakes up." But Maylu said nothing and jacked Roll out.

* * *

In Maylu's room, Roll sat in her homepage still guilty over Megaman's current state. She should've been at his side as he recovered like she always had for him, but those times weren't because she caused his injuries. Would he be angry with her once he woke up? That would rub salt on the wounds and she couldn't face him.

This was just like the time where Flashman had attacked them and she got in the way. Megaman got hurt because of her. Even though he was alright in the end, she blamed herself for putting him in that position. She tried walking away from him, but she came back. This time, she couldn't risk coming back to him. But could she stay away for long?

Maylu sat at her desk in her pajamas, watching her navi mentally argue with herself on what she should do next without angering her loved one.

"Hey Roll, why don't you take a break tomorrow? I'll be fine on my own at school." Roll twitched, turning to smile weakly at her operator.

"No, I'm your NetNavi, I'm supposed to always be there for you." Maylu shook her head.

"Nope, you need a break. How about you take the time to relax? Doesn't NetCity have a new area for meditation? You could use it and come home by tomorrow night. You have my permission." She was trying to cheer Roll up. Roll smiled genuinely.

"Okay."

* * *

The next morning, Megaman was scheduled to wake up any minute now. His friends had all left not long after Maylu and Roll had. Lan and Dr. Hikari were watching the screen as the navi slowly stirred and opened his eyes.

Megaman's mind was a haze. He couldn't remember much of what happened before he was put into stasis, but all he could remember was throwing Roll callously before he was hit. Oh God, what if she got hurt because of him? He wanted to protect her and he went and hurt her in the end. Now panicking, Megaman sat up in his data bed, feeling drowsy but his mind was focused on something else. Roll.

Lan's eyes widened. "Hey, you shouldn't be moving so quickly! There are some side effects that are supposed to last for a few hours."

"I'm fine," Megaman grunted, looking around the room. Usually he would expect to see Roll sleeping on his side, tired from staying up all night to make sure he was okay. But she wasn't there. Had Coloredman gotten to her after knocking him out?

"Lan, where's Roll? Is she okay?" he asked hurriedly. Lan put his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, slow down. She's fine." Megaman wasn't fully satisfied with his answer.

"Then where is she?" Lan looked to his father for help. Dr. Hikari smiled gently and turned to the navi.

"Maylu took her home to rest. She should still be resting." Megaman visibly relaxed. So she was okay. Thank God. He could make it up to her later for throwing her. They still had a date tonight, he saw on his calendar.

Lan watched him look through his calendar and sighed, thinking about what Roll had said before she left. "Hey, Megaman, I don't think Roll wants to go out with you today."

The glare he shot at him could've melted steel. "What did you say?"

Lan took a step back. "I'm just saying what she said. She said she didn't want to go out on a date. I think she feels guilty for putting you here."

Megaman's eyes narrowed into slits. "Coloredman put me here, not Roll. Who said something to her?"

"No one did. She said it herself." Megaman's eyes widened. The last time she was in danger and he was hurt, she was torn. She tried distancing herself to keep him away, but the feelings between the two kept them together.

"Is she leaving me again?" he asked, his voice breaking. Lan gulped. He realized that keeping the two apart from each other wasn't wise as Megaman would do almost anything to be near the pink navi.

"I hope not," he muttered. Megaman ignored him, gripping his head in his hands. Paranoia flooded his systems.

"Without Roll, I'm nothing! You think I can go on being normal and fighting WWW without her?! I need her!" His voice was loud, ringing through the room of both the humans and cyberspace. Inside, he felt himself at a loss. If any of his enemies saw the way he was acting, they'd call him a love-starved fool. He could care less about them right now.

"Whenever I get beaten down, whenever the stress starts getting to me, I can feel my core splitting apart. But when she's there, when she smiles at me or hugs me, I don't come apart. I'm stronger with her next to me. No one will ever love me like she does. She's all I have here in cyberspace. I don't ever want her to leave me. She's all I want. She understands me without having to explain myself. None of my friends can do that. I love her differently than I care about anyone else." He was pacing his room now, not glancing at his NetOp and father. He had never thought he would ever feel this way towards anyone. Before, he never thought of Roll as a mate. She was a cute friend and he had other things to worry about like WWW. But as time went by, Roll became much more than a cute face. She had a loyalty to her friends that was admirable, even though she got herself in a few situations that ended in her needing to be saved. But he didn't mind. Her cute nature evolved into a more nurturing side, but her determination remained intact. She made any room she walked into light up and she always knew what to say to make him feel better. Everything she did was done with every ounce of effort she could muster. Coming back from each Netbattle where he could've been deleted sent a blow to his psyche. But then she was there, holding him and bringing him back to feeling normal and wanted. Everyone saw him as the great Megaman, but Roll appreciated him far more than they did. To have her leave him was like splitting him in half. He had become possessive of her more than she had for him because of how much she meant to him. He didn't want her trying to leave him again. He stopped pacing and looked determined to go look for her.

"I can't let her go. She's mine. I sound selfish, but it's how I feel. I have to see her." At this, Dr. Hikari stopped him from leaving the room.

"Megaman! This might not be a good time to go see her. She needs to be alone. She'll see you when she decides to." Megaman's glare was directed to him.

"The last time she said she wanted to be alone, she ignored me for three months. _Three months!_ Do you have any idea how lonely I was? You guys don't understand!" Dr. Hikari didn't falter.

"We're telling you that she needs to be alone for a while. You need rest. You're probably upset because of the repairs we've done. Some of the side effects include your emotions program escalating to extremes." Megaman frowned.

"I'm _not_ crazy." The patient smile on his father's face was back.

"I didn't say you were. Take your rest and you can be back in your PET by tonight. If you do anymore damage, I'll have to keep you here." Megaman could've bust through the security cube if he was locked away, but decided against it. The last thing he wanted was to be away from Roll more than he had to.

"And another thing!" chirped Lan as Dr. Hikari left, "I'll just leave your communications link open to…I dunno, make a call or something." He gave his navi a wink. "He only said that you had to stay in the room. No harm in a call, right?"

Megaman finally smiled. "Thanks, Lan." He accessed the communications link and found Roll as his main contact. He paused to wait for her to answer.

And grew frustrated when she didn't.

* * *

The meditation center was a beautiful scene. The fresh green grass swayed slowly in the gentle breeze with various flowers added here and there for a natural, human feel. A lake was glistening in the morning light and there were a few Mettaurs that were reprogrammed bounced or floated around catering to the navis' needs. A pristine white building structure was designed so that anyone could see the different levels where navis were meditating, doing yoga and Tai Chi.

It was designed as a comfort to navis like spa retreats for humans. Roll decided to sit by the lake under a shady tree. She kept getting calls from Megaman, but she ignored them with a heavy heart. She still couldn't face him after what happened yesterday. She was so scared that he would hate her for it. The logical part of her said that there was no way the Megaman would hate her, he loved her. But he always wanted to protect her to the point that she felt useless. Who wanted to be with someone who got herself in trouble and sent them both to SciLab for injuries? She always had to be saved.

She didn't want to tie him down to that. Maybe it was best to just end things between them. Being with him made her a target to WWW and not only did he have to save the city, he had to stop those guys from hurting his 'precious sweet Roll,' a dumb nickname they gave her. If she walked away from him, they wouldn't use her as leverage against him. And because of her clumsy battling, they wouldn't even attempt to use her to delete him. She'd give herself away and leave too many openings for attacks. As she focused on her thoughts, she nearly had a heart attack when she was suddenly approached by Protoman. The red navi looked passive as usual.

"Hello, Roll. Are you here to relax?" he asked formally. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes. And thank you for coming to save us yesterday." He shook his head.

"It's my duty as an official." He noticed she was alone. "Where is Megaman? I figured you be with him."

She shook her head sadly, guilty. "He still needs his rest."

"And you're not with him?" he asked. He knew about Megaman and Roll's relationship, he also knew how possessive the blue navi was of the pink one. Roll sighed.

"I don't think he wants to see me. I'm the reason why he was hurt in the first place." They were silent for a few moments, the red navi thinking quietly. Roll looked up at him. He was always brutally honest and she needed that. Megaman would never say things to hurt her feelings, which she tended to like, but she needed some tough love.

"Protoman, be honest with me. What qualities do I have?" If he was shocked by her question, he didn't show it. When he stayed quiet, Roll figured he was thinking about what to say next. Then he spoke.

"You're kind, bright and a reliable friend. You tend to cheer others up and can be selfless at times." He meant it. And if he said anything bad, he was pretty sure Megaman would catch wind of it and want to delete him. Roll sniffed.

"But I'm not a strong Netbattler, am I? I'm weak, I get others hurt and in the end, I'm stuck being the damsel that everyone has to save. I'm the burden."

"You are weak," admitted Protoman, smoothly continuing when she looked crestfallen, "but that is only in terms of battle. Emotionally, you are very strong. Your compassion to others is admirable. That sort of advantage is helpful for officials such as Megaman." She blinked innocently.

"What do you mean?" He coughed a little to mask his chuckle. Teasing Megaman over Roll was a good pastime, but he knew the extent of Roll's importance to him.

"MegaMan needs you more than you realize. Because of our line of work, it's difficult to find a sense of normalcy and often many navis and their NetOps lose their sanity or strain their programs into a burn out. Having someone or something to come home to bring a comfort and drive that not many of them can explain in words. He talks about you all the time and he usually gets through a day's work knowing that you will be there for him no matter what happens. He's protective of you because of how important you are to him, not because you are weak. Navis that are programmed for combat don't know how to deal with emotions very well. He's sticking to what he knows and understands to show you that you mean a lot to him." Her cheeks went warm, but still...

"But what about me getting him hurt?" Protoman shrugged.

"I don't think he cares. That clown directly injured him. Besides," he smirked, "He can't stay away from you. He tends to act like a masochist with you whenever you two have your little fights. You yell at him, he frets at work that he made you mad and comes crawling back to you. It can be quite amusing." Roll blushed brightly.

"You act like I'm some sort of abuser!" she shouted, poking him with a finger. He was unfazed.

"I'm merely stating my observations. Talk to him whenever, it makes no difference to me." He turned away, but stopped and gave her a blank glance. She tilted her head.

"Something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head. He wanted to say for her to hurry to Megaman before the Blue Bomber would go insane, but put it aside. She needed time to sit and think a little more.

* * *

Megaman didn't want to wait any longer. Roll wasn't answering and he was getting restless. He called Gutsman, Iceman and Glide to see if his link was acting up, but they answered quickly. Roll was the only one who wasn't. Everyone tried calling her but she didn't answer them either. He was getting worried. What if she was attacked by WWW for revenge because of Coloredman? Panicking, he was ready to break the security cube and go out to find her.

Wait, hang on. He forced himself to stay put. How was he going to find her in the first place? He could hack into her communications link and find her via tracking. He's done it before…but she wasn't exactly happy the last time he did. But he was worried about her. Before he could access her link, Lan popped back onto the screen.

"Hey, Megaman! Whatcha up to?!" he greeted. Megaman growled.

"Go away, Lan." Lan frowned.

"Now don't be rude. I have news about Roll!" Instantly, Megaman snapped to look at him.

"Where is she?!" Lan smiled.

"Safe! That's all Maylu will tell me." Megaman sighed in relief, but he still wanted to go see her.

"Can I go now? I feel better." Lan frowned.

"Afraid not. Dad saw that you were asleep for zero hours, so until you have five hours of rest, you can't leave!" Megaman threw his hands up in the air.

"Are you serious?!" Lan grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry! Good night!" he sang, then forced Megaman to power down. Megaman was seething until he saw darkness.

* * *

Roll spent the rest of her afternoon relaxing along the meditation area, stretching along with the other navis and playfully chasing the Mettaurs around the field. Sitting back and feeling the breeze was amazing. There were no viruses around bothering her and no WWW showing their ugly mugs.

She was exhausted by late evening after doing some of Maylu's errands, returning outside her homepage. Before she could access it, Megaman suddenly appeared in front of her. He looked pissed beyond belief and fully energized. She gasped.

"Mega!" Using up more strength in her surprise made her sleepier than she was before. She yawned a little. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes bugged. "'Is something wrong?' You've been ignoring my calls all day! Where were you?"

His loud voice was grating her ears. She made a face. She didn't want him to be angry, but she was tired.

"I'm sorry, but I was out all day. Maybe we could wait until tomorrow to talk?"

"'Wait until tomorrow?!' No, I can't. I need to talk to you. Now." He wasn't going to leave until everything was set straight and she wouldn't leave him.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm exhausted. I promise I'll speak to you tomorrow. I just need to rest." She gave him a hug which he accepted gratefully, then walked to her homepage entrance. As Megaman watched her go, he immediately thought of the last time she tried saying goodbye to him. He lashed out and grabbed her from behind. She sputtered.

"M-Megaman?!"

"Don't walk away from me." She froze. He sounded heartbroken. She turned around and kissed him, squeaking when he pulled her into his arms and transported them both back to his homepage.

He set her down on the grid next to his bed and said nothing as she spun around.

"What are you doing? Why are we here?" she asked. He glared.

"I said we need to talk. You haven't picked up your link all day. I was worried about you! How come you weren't there when I woke up?!" He looked angry at her, something she wasn't used to seeing. She looked down on the grid, but he grabbed her chin and made her look up at him. His frustrated green eyes bore into hers. She began to tear up.

"I put you on that bed, Mega. It was my fault you got hurt. I didn't want to see you mad at me when you woke up." His eyes softened.

"I can never be mad at you, Roll." She thought about what Protoman said. She smiled gently.

"Sometimes I wonder why. But I-" She wanted to tell him that she understood why he went out of his way to keep her safe, but he snapped and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Roll, I love you." She blushed.

"Uh, I know. I love you too." He shook his head.

"But I haven't told you. I'm not good at that kind of stuff. I don't mean to make you feel weak or protect you because I feel sorry for you. I protect you because I need you. All the things you've done for me mean a lot and I have no way to repay you other than to keep you safe. I don't know how else to show you I care. I'm sorry I haven't thought about how you feel about me doing it. But I don't want you to leave me." She went red.

"Mega…" She trailed off when she found herself on her back on Megaman's bed, his head on her chest. Her touch sent electricity through his circuits, but these brought him into a sense of calm.

"You make me feel like I mean something more than just everyone's savior. To you, I'm just Megaman. Every single Netbattle I fight, no one sees how tired I am, they're just happy that they're safe. But you care. I don't feel that burden of keeping my pride with you around. But when you say that you want to leave me, I feel more pain than my deletion. Remember that time?" She closed her eyes, remembering the day he got deleted. She had never thought she could cry so much.

"Your deletion?" He shook his head.

"No, when you said you wanted to leave me. When you left me for three months." He looked up at her accusingly. She looked away.

"I'm sorry." He continued, blinking away his tears.

"I couldn't take it. I can't see myself without you. I won't be the same if you leave. If it made you happy, I can't bring myself leave you. I'm sorry I sound selfish." She embraced him, muffling her sobs.

"I won't leave you. I meant it when I said I love you. I'm sorry if I hurt you." He choked down tears and hugged her back. Letting go reluctantly, he hoisted himself up so he could look at her at eye-level.

"Promise me you'll never think about leaving me again." She smiled and kissed him, feeling sleep get to her.

"I promise." She fell asleep in his arms. Megaman held her to him closely before letting himself fall asleep, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

On his computer, Lan was grinning like a fool. He had Maylu on call so she was able to hear their navis' conversation. She was teary-eyed, but was disturbed by Lan's grin.

"Why are smiling like that? Don't tell me you recorded them." He shook his head, making her sigh in relief.

"I'm just happy Megaman finally told her how he feels. He clams up when I ask him." She gave him a knowing look.

"He's not the only one who does that." He blinked.

"Wha-?" She hung up before he could finish. He frowned, muttering to himself at how he couldn't understand girls. He gave one last smile when he saw the navis' peaceful faces, then turned off his computer.

* * *

I am a HUGE fan of Megaman and Roll, but I feel that Roll really got the short end of the stick in the anime and games. She has potential as a major character, but they kept bumming her down in the series as a whole. It's really a shame that they just turned her into a typical girly girl who needs a hero rather than being headstrong and independent. You'd think that with her having more fighting abilities she could be a little stronger.


End file.
